To Serve God (Ministry)

At the age of 23, Jesus really did turn my life upside down.

Almost immediately, I had a desire to contribute to serve in the local church, synonymous for me with my conversion.

And I would hang around and sign up for basically anything that I could.

So I'd sign up to lead on camps.

It was one of the first things I ever did.

It was a fishing camp.

I remember it was this fishing camp that was being run up in the New England area.

I rang up the bloke and said, you know, I'd like to come and help.

And he said, you ever led on a camp before?

I said, no, but I can fish.

So I passed the qualifications for that.

Cutting the grass, do repairs or fixing pews, getting rid of feral animals in the ceiling of church and all kinds of stuff.

Eventually, hospital visiting, doing funerals even.

And it just grew over time.

I was given the task of starting a youth ministry and then an evening congregation and then a young adults ministry.

And that was all within the first six months of me being a Christian.

I was then given a two-year apprenticeship.

The job offer was this.

You're hanging around that much and you're eating my food that much.

I might as well give you a job.

And so I took an 85% paid cut and did a two-year apprenticeship to test my skills and my stamina for vocational ministry.

At the end of that, I entered formal theological education and the process of becoming a full-time minister.

After three years of theological education with a degree in theology and diplomacy and ministry under my belt in five and a half years as a Christian,

I was ordained as a deacon in the Anglican Church of Australia in Armadale Cathedral on the 21st of December 1998,

which means in about two weeks or so, it's 20 years since that happened.

Christian for 25 and a half years, I've been involved in vocational ministry for 25 of those years.

And God has given me many opportunities to serve him over that time in a whole different variety of ways.

And I can say that God has used me to impact people's lives in that time.

But for whatever he has done through me, it's what he's done in me that has been the greatest joy, I think, the greatest benefit of ministry.

It's one of the surprising blessings, what God does in you as you serve other people.

So it has been my joy with all the ups and downs.

It's been my joy in the darkest moments.

It's my joy to be involved in ministry.

I'm totally convinced that it's God's call on my life.

This is not just a job, a career thing.

It's not about promotion.

It's not about getting the next big opportunity.

It's his call on my life.

And so I'm really pleased to be able to talk about ministry today.

If you've just joined us today, we are week four into our five-part vision series called My Purpose, Our Purpose, God's Purpose.

It's an annual vision series.

In week one of this, when we kicked it off, we asked the question, what's the purpose of life?

And we saw that the purpose of life was that God created and saved us for his glory.

And we used the word magnification to summarize all of that.

Week two, we narrowed it down.

What's the purpose of church?

And we saw that God has gathered his people together in order to magnify him.

And we used the word membership to describe that.

Last week, week three, now that God's gathered us, what is his purpose for his gathered people?

And we saw that it is to transform us into the image of his true son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the word we used to summarize that was maturity.

Okay, so we've got magnification, membership, maturity.

He created us, he saved us, he's gathered us, and he's growing us.

Now the question is, what does God want us to do?

Is it just to grow up?

Is that it?

We're going to use the word ministry to summarize that.

And if you are sharp this afternoon, you would have realized they all start with an M.

Okay?

And next week will be mission.

And it is also an M.

So if you look at your service outline, same breakdown as what we've done in the previous weeks.

Firstly, what's God's purpose?

And then how can we pursue it on purpose here at St. Paul?

So what is God's purpose for his growing children?

The goal of spiritual growth is to become more like the Lord Jesus.

That's what we saw last week.

It's become more and more in the likeness of the image of the Lord Jesus.

And while this means becoming more like him in his character, and the Bible is very, very clear about that,

we must also remember that Jesus came to do a specific work.

And that was to do the will of his father.

On the eve of his crucifixion, he prayed this, John 17, 4,

I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

So, which means that if God's intention is for us to grow up to be more and more like the Lord Jesus,

not just his character, but also it is to do the work that God has called us to do.

Ephesians 2.10 tells us that we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do.

So God intends for all believers to be active members in his kingdom.

And that's my first sub point here, every member ministry.

God's purpose is for every one of his gathered and growing children to be involved in ministry.

That is, ministry is not a special category of Christians.

It's not, they're an elite Christian or the suckers or something like that.

So what I want to do is to trace this out in the Old and New Testament just really briefly.

Looking at the role of the priesthood, the concept of priesthood is common in the ancient world.

Generally, priests in the ancient world, their main function was to offer sacrifices to appease the gods.

And that can be anything from animals through to sacrificing people in order to appease the gods.

In fact, back in the ancient Incas, they sacrificed people because they believed the gods got their energy from blood of humanity.

And so you sacrificed humans in order to energize the gods, to swing them around into your favor, to get them to do things for you.

The animals would die in the place of those.

Sorry, sorry.

That's the ancient one.

The Old Testament, however, priests, they would offer sacrifices in a very different way.

The biblical idea of sacrifice in the Old Testament, animals were offered to cleanse the worshiper from their sin.

And so the animal would die in the place of the worshiper so that the worshiper could go away forgiven.

So as an Israelite, if you wanted to receive the blessing of God, the forgiveness of sins, then you would take your animal to the priest.

And these guys were known as the Levites.

You can read the book of Leviticus and you'll discover all about the priesthood.

Or you can just listen to the sermon series that we did in the last five years here, whenever it was, on Leviticus and you can listen to it all there.

So there were those in the Old Testament who were set apart for this special function as priests to offer sacrifices.

But we also read something really interesting in Exodus 19.

This is where God calls his children Israel to himself at Mount Sinai.

He's rescued him from slavery in Egypt.

And then it says this in Exodus 19 verse 4.

Exodus 19:4

You yourselves have seen what I did in Egypt and how I carried you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself.

Now, if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations, you will be my treasured possession.

Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

So God's word to hear to his people Israel, who he's just rescued from Egypt, his corporate gathered children, is that you collectively will be priests.

That is, priests in the sense that you will serve me in the world.

Not like the Levites, who have a special function of priests, but you will be not sacrificial priests, but you'll be serving priests in the whole world.

And so both of these ideas, both the individual sacrificial, functional, formal priests and the corporate serving God in the world priests, the body of God's people, come to their climax and reach their fulfillment in the New Testament.

And that's the passage that was read out to us in Hebrews 10.

If you've got time, quickly run to Hebrews 10.

In verse 1, it says the law, that's a reference to the Old Testament.

It says the law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming.

So the law, the Old Testament, is a shadow of the good things which are coming, which is a reference, a valid reference, if you like, to the gospel of the Lord Jesus in the New Testament.

For this reason, it can never, and talking about the Old Testament, it can never by the same sacrifices repeat endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.

Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered?

For the worshipers would have been cleansed once and for all and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.

But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.

It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

So what it's saying there in Hebrews is that whole Old Testament sacrificial system didn't remove sin.

But it did serve to remind God's people of the seriousness of their sin.

And it reminded them that a representative was needed.

Something needed to die, if you like, in order to atone for their sin.

So let's just jump down now to verse 11.

It says,

Day after day, every priest, this is the individual functional priest, the formal Levites, stands and performs his religious duties.

Again and again, he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

Okay, that's their job.

Feels like a kind of pointless job, really.

Then verse 12 talks about Jesus' sacrifice.

This is the New Testament.

It talks about Jesus' sacrifice of himself on the cross.

But when this priest, Jesus, had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins,

he sat down at the right hand of God.

And since that time, he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.

For by one sacrifice, he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

So Jesus is what Hebrews 10 is saying.

Jesus is the true priest who offers the true sacrifice.

Once and for all, he deals with the sin of humanity.

He's the true lamb, the lamb of God, whose blood is shed and dies in our place so that we're forgiven and spared.

So Jesus is both the priest who offers the sacrifice and the sacrifice itself.

He perfects both.

Why?

So that we who are scattered from God because of our sin can be gathered to him as his much-loved and forgiven children

and be brought into a new humanity of priests set free to serve God in the world.

We see it again in Revelation chapter 1.

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

Verse 4, John introduces his letter and he says,

This is written to the seven churches in the province of Asia.

In other words, this is not just written to the church leaders.

This is not written to the...

This is written to everyone in the church.

And then we read this about halfway down through verse 5.

So the New Testament is clear.

The old formal, Levitical, sacrificial individual priest is done with in Jesus.

But the corporate priesthood of God's people is not.

All of God's people are saved and gathered to be a priesthood serving God in the world.

Every one of God's children is a minister.

And yet, this is interesting because the priesthood of all believers, every member ministry,

was something that was recaptured, if you like, or rediscovered at the Reformation 501 years ago.

In around about...

In there somewhere.

And yet, there are so many people sitting in Protestant churches today

who totally misunderstand the biblical idea of priesthood of all believers in every member ministry.

And in fact, what even ministry is.

You see, for a start, because of Jesus' finished work,

there is no such thing, there's no need, if you like,

for priests who mediate between you and God.

You don't need people to do that anymore.

People like me, who are ordained leaders of churches,

are not priests in the individual Old Testament sacrificial sense.

I don't have a special connection that you need to get by me to God.

That doesn't exist in the New Testament.

I am, like all Christians, a priest in the corporate serving God in the world sense, however.

All of God's saved and gathered children, like me, like you,

are called into the service of God in this world.

And so God's purpose for you, God's purpose for me,

and for all of us collectively, is to do ministry.

And you are ministers who are doing ministry, all of you, if you're a Christian.

So when people say, I'm going into the ministry,

or they say things like, let me introduce you to my minister,

you're actually reinforcing a category error.

Because you're the minister as well.

So, you know, next time we do that, a new person comes along,

brand new person in church, I'll bring them to you.

Let me introduce you to the minister.

It's one of the ministers.

Let's see how we go with that.

Okay, so the reason I say that is because ministry equals service.

Ministry is interchangeable with the word service.

The words ministry and minister simply mean service and servant.

That's all they are.

So the title Prime Minister of Australia simply means that Scott Morrison

is the first servant of the people of Australia, for the time being.

At least for now, until the next guy comes along.

And so this says quite a lot about the way in which we do ministry.

Our core value of servant leadership here at St. Paul's is so important

because it is about us ministering together, serving together

with identities which are deeply secure in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You see, it is so common to serve out of a sense of duty

in the hope of earning God's favor,

or it's so common nowadays, especially in our world,

there's a big push in a secular culture to serve less fortunate people.

A lot of that is driven by self-centeredness.

Just need to dig a little bit deeper.

A sense of superiority for cultures, not as sharp or not as good as ours,

and need to be able to serve those cultures so that they would grow up.

It's driven from a sense of my own fulfillment.

So we don't do it for personal reasons.

We don't do it in order to earn favor with God.

We must never forget that God saves his people out of Egypt.

Then he gathers them to himself as his treasured possession.

And then he says, I want you to serve me.

It's the same with Jesus at the cross.

He dies for our sins, gathers us to himself as his church.

He calls us to serve him in the world.

We don't serve God to gain his favor.

We do ministry because we already have it.

We serve others with the attitude of which Jesus served us.

Mark 10, 45.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,

but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

At the source of all Christian service of ministry in the world

is the crucified, risen Lord who died to set us free

into a life of service of God and of others.

It's the reason which you were created.

God has created you and saved you in order to serve

and to serve together the world.

And before you were saved,

you were enslaved to your own self-centeredness.

So you've been set free to pursue the very design God had on your life initially.

And serving the biblical sense is putting the needs of others ahead of your own

or putting the needs of the community ahead of your individual needs.

There's a paradox here.

And I mentioned it right at the beginning.

I feel like God has so blessed me over the years in service.

If you serve primarily for yourself when it suits you,

because it fits into your program,

it does stuff you just want to do,

it doesn't push you out of your comfort zone at all,

then it isn't actually serving.

And so therefore you'll never feel the benefits.

You'll never experience the benefits of serving.

Ever.

Ever.

The only workable dynamic for ministry in the church is Mark 10, 45.

The Son of Man did not come to be served,

but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

So having just, you know,

knocked down the hierarchy idea,

what's the relationship between church leaders and church members?

Or more specifically,

between those in vocational ministry

and those who are members of the church,

serving in the church.

I want to jump back into Ephesians 4, verse 11 to 12.

Ephesians 4:11–12

We were there last week.

Verse 11.

So Christ gave, himself gave the apostles,

the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers.

These, broadly speaking,

we can call these categories, if you like,

leaders within the church.

We're happy to go with that just for the time being.

So why did Christ give these to the church?

Verse 12.

To equip his people for works of service,

for works of ministry.

What's the end goal that God has in giving church leaders

to equip his people for works of service and ministry?

Verse 12.

So that the body of Christ may be built up.

And in fact, the word actually means built up and built out.

The whole idea here is

Christ gives leaders to equip the members

for the work of ministry in such a way

that the whole church grows up into maturity,

which is his design for his people.

We all have a ministry.

Church leaders have primarily an equipping ministry

and church members have primarily a doing ministry.

And there's obviously crossover there

with some of that stuff.

But we all are called to minister together

to build Christ's church.

This is crucial.

Because I think that too many,

in fact, I would suggest that way over 90% of churches

think of ministry in the local church

in the same way that you would think of the manly ferry.

On the ferry, you've got a few staff

who get you from point A to point B.

There's that bloke, whoever it is,

up the front driving the whole thing.

And there might be a couple of people there

who are checking your tickets

or putting out the ramp

so you can get on without falling in the water.

And there's someone selling you snacks.

I mean, who knows?

It might even be the same person doing everything.

I've got no idea.

And everyone else is sitting there passively in the seats,

working on whatever it is that you're working on

and your phones and taking photos and conversation,

just waiting to get to the destination.

And the people on the boat, the staff,

it's their job to get you to the destination

as smoothly as you possibly can,

as fast as you can,

to get on your own way.

And that is the way so many churches view ministry.

We pay people to do that for us.

And can I say that it's particularly,

and I've talked to ministers all over the place,

it's particularly prevalent

in places like eastern suburbs, North Shore,

where we're used to getting people

to pay for everything for us.

They cut our grass,

they clean our windows,

people do all that.

They walk our dogs for us, for goodness sake.

Pay a fortune to get this dog

and get someone to walk it for us.

We're used to people paying for all those things

and we treat church in exactly the same way.

The local church ought to be viewed

more like a sailing boat,

actually a bit more than a sailing boat.

Let's call it one of the yachts

in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

Everyone on board has a job to do.

There's no passengers there,

kind of, you know,

I'm just here to take the photos.

You know, that's just,

you know, the guy's not there.

You know, you don't have the person

sunbathing at the front, you know,

a couple of days to catch some rays.

Captain's job is to set the course,

to navigate the direction,

to get the crew operating together

and each part doing its work,

but making sure that we're doing it together

in order to get to the goal,

to get to Hobart.

Then you get to Hobart,

you go, what am I doing here?

We're going to get home again.

All of God's people are called

to a corporate priesthood,

either an equipping ministry

or a doing ministry,

but doing it together

for a purpose.

So that is what's God's purpose

for his growing children.

Second point,

how can we minister on purpose

at St. Paul?

So let me say,

first of all,

this is by way of a caveat,

if you like,

you can serve God

both in the church

and in the world.

You can minister

in a whole range of ways

through being citizens,

neighbours and friends

and colleagues.

And I'm very keen

for us to develop

that concept of

frontline ministry

as a church.

You can speak to Adrian,

our missions minister,

about that

and we'll touch on it

probably next week a bit.

But tonight,

I've got my ministry minister hat.

I oversee ministry,

this M for St. Paul's

and I've got that hat on tonight.

And I want to look at

what does it look like

for us to work,

to minister on purpose

at St. Paul's

and I want to suggest

three ways,

time, talents and treasures.

So firstly,

time.

Easiest way to serve God

with your time

is turn up.

This is profound.

Turn up.

Don't underestimate,

as I said two weeks ago,

don't underestimate

the role you play

by turning up

and just engaging

with another individual.

And especially an individual

who's not necessarily

a close friend

or anything like that.

Taking the time to talk,

to encourage,

to listen,

to be there.

As you speak

the truth in love,

as I said last week

from Ephesians 4.15,

speaking the truth

in love to each other,

you are ministering,

you are serving

another human being.

Now when we think

of ministry

at a local church,

we normally think of it

in the formal sense,

a position.

I'm on a team

and I've got my spot

in the roster.

It is possible

to fulfill your function

in a roster

and yet not do ministry.

I want to make that clear.

Because that is

such a small portion

of the ministry

that gets done

in this church.

And it isn't

the starting point

of ministry

and it's certainly

not the end point

of ministry.

The informal ministry

is what happens

outside of the formal structures

of the gathering

of St. Paul's

and it is extremely important

for service

to one another.

And it takes time.

People take time

and it takes effort.

Ministry doesn't stop

there though.

I don't want you

to just think,

well all you do

is turn up.

I want to encourage you

to do that

but go beyond that

and in fact

join a ministry team.

Again,

this is going to require

you using

the time

that God has given you

to serve Him.

There's preparation

for ministry,

there's coordination

of people,

there's training,

there's all sorts of stuff.

It all takes time.

And what's more,

once you join a team,

you're accountable

for your time

to others.

When you are part

of a team

and you don't put

the time in

then others need

to carry that load

for you.

If you're part

of a team,

when you don't

put your effort in,

the rest of the team

takes that load.

And that's the case

anywhere.

It's work teams,

it's sporting teams,

you know,

all that kind of stuff.

So there might be

an opportunity

as well for you.

There's some very

broad categories.

It might be also

an opportunity,

when I'm thinking

about time,

where for some of you,

because of life

circumstances,

you are able to give

larger chunks of time

to the ministry

of St. Paul's.

In a previous church

that I belonged to,

a teacher

retired

at the normal

retiring age.

He went from his

retirement from a teacher

and spent,

you know,

all of his years

as a teacher.

He went then

and did some training,

got himself ordained

as a deacon

in the Anglican church

and now ministers

as,

in an honorary capacity

on staff

in the church

that he'd been a worshiper

in for 40 years.

And he realized

as he was heading

towards retirement,

because our ministry team

is running flat out

doing jobs

that I don't think

that they need to do.

But people expected

to do it

because they got

the mentality

that we're the manly fairy.

So he thought

the best thing

that he could do

was to take the load off

by getting himself

trained and ordained.

And therefore,

he could step in

in an honoring capacity

to serve in the church.

So don't buy into

our society's values

that when you retire,

the whole goal of life

is to get to retirement

with a secure nest egg

so that I can spend

the rest of my days

in self-indulgent ease.

That's not a retirement plan.

That's shooting yourself

in the foot.

We ought to be

congratulating,

in my view,

and celebrating

the fact that,

for instance,

Debbie Gould,

our membership minister,

she's one of our

purpose pastors,

one of the five

pastors,

leaders of

our leadership team,

has been ministering

at St. Paul's

three to five days a week

for more than 20 years,

longer than I've been ordained,

as a volunteer.

Okay, now,

let me just,

I do think,

when I said we should

celebrate that,

I didn't mean a pause

and,

okay,

let me just say it again,

I think we should celebrate that.

Okay,

so that took twice,

it took four times for me

to say it this morning,

twice tonight,

so that's good.

That's an improvement.

That,

that I don't think

means that we

undervalue you,

Debbie,

I don't think that was

what I mean.

Andrew Smith has been

giving at least

two days a week

for four to five years

or so

at St. Paul's,

doing a whole range

of things.

And there are others

who contribute

in a whole range

of other ways

in volunteer.

We've had,

one of the joys,

I think,

we've had a number

of young people

who have come through

over the years,

the 10 years I've been here,

have given,

you know,

one or two,

three days a week

for a year

as a sort of a gap year

and stuff like that

and which has just been

amazing to have

those opportunities.

We get more done

in those times

and ministry progresses

remarkably

when those things

are happening.

So that's the first thing,

with your time,

give of your time.

Secondly,

talents.

The Bible uses

the language of gifts here

when it talks about this,

1 Corinthians 12,

four to seven.

There are different kinds

of gifts

but the same spirit

distributes them.

There are different kinds

of service

but the same Lord.

There are different kinds

of working

but in all of them

and in everyone

it is the same God

at work.

Now to each one

the manifestation

of the spirit

is given

for the common good.

So every Christian,

that's what the each one

is referring to

in verse seven,

receives spiritual gifts.

Spiritual gift

is an ability.

Verse six calls it

a working

or it could also be

called a power.

And this ability,

this working,

this power

comes to us

comes to us

as a free gift

from God.

They are gifts

from the spirit of God

according to verse four.

They are given

to every Christian

for the purpose

of ministering

to the needs

of others.

Verse five

calls it service.

And this service

is for the building up

of the Christian community

both in its size

and depth

because verse seven

calls that

for the common good

of the church.

So the bottom line

is that every Christian

is in ministry

through the church

and if you're a Christian

you've been gifted

by God

for that end.

No one,

no Christian

is ever

merely a consumer

of the services

of others.

They are also

distributor

of services

to others.

Now,

1 Corinthians 12

tells us

how the gifts

are distributed

in the church

and the answer

is diversely.

Note the

repeated use

of the word

different

in these verses.

Firstly,

there are

a variety

of individual gifts.

Some have

put the diversity

of gifts

into three broad categories

the prophetic gifts,

the priestly gifts

and the kingly gifts.

Prophetic gifts

are gifts

and abilities

based on understanding

and articulating

biblical truth.

They are gifts

that represent God

to others

that are marked

by things like

boldness and clarity,

evangelism,

teaching,

speaking,

discernment,

prophecy.

Priestly gifts

are abilities

based on understanding

and supplying

basic needs

for people.

They represent

others to God

and the world

and are marked

by things like

sympathy

and sacrifice

and care,

encouragement,

helping,

pastoring,

mercy,

that kind of stuff.

Kingly gifts

are abilities

based on understanding

and direction

and people groups

as a whole,

what they need

as a group

as a whole.

they represent

Christ's vision

to others

and these gifts

are generally marked

by things like

wisdom,

practicality,

leadership.

Often you look

at the apostles,

founders of ministries,

leadership,

administration,

wisdom,

faith,

courage,

that kind of stuff.

That's how

the gifts are distributed,

all kinds of different gifts

and no individual

has all of those gifts.

As much as we might like it,

no one has all of those gifts

and you tend to have

one area

that you're really strong at,

maybe two areas

that you're fairly strong at

but you'll never have

three areas

that you are

supremely strong at

where your passions

are for all three areas.

You might be able

to function in all of them

but one or two of them

will dominate.

Secondly,

there are different kinds

of service in verse 5

which means our gifts

are better suited

to some places

and context

over others.

Some work better

with children

than adults.

Some prefer

a small setting

rather than a large setting.

Some work with

blue collar

and some can work

with white collar better,

that sort of stuff.

Thirdly,

there are different kinds

of working

in verse 6

which most likely

means there are

different levels

of capacity.

every Christian

has an almost

unique collection

of gifts

and on top of this

there are different

seasons in our lives

where the context

where those gifts

are called out

in us

are called out

in us

in different ways.

When you put it

all together

it may be

that each Christian

has a personal

gift setting

which is totally

unique to them

in a way that

even a thumbprint

might be unique.

The implication

of that is

that there is

ministry

that most likely

only you can do.

Spiritual gifts

fit you

for the mission

in life

that God

has given you

wherever

he has placed you.

So how do we

discover the

spiritual gifts?

Let me just

clarify this point

really clearly.

I think I need

to make this.

It is interesting

that there is

virtually nothing

in the Bible

at all

about how to

discover spiritual

gifts.

Virtually nothing.

Very, very little.

Which means

there is a problem

with every single

prescribed process

that you'll pull

off a book

in Kurong

or whatever

off the shelves

in Kurong

and say

here's how you

discover your

spiritual gifts.

There's a problem

with every single

process.

There are at

least three

factors that

seem to come

together in

discovering gifts.

Affinity,

ability and

opportunity.

There is

pretty much

this is pretty

much the process

we go through

I think in

all of our

major decisions

in life.

Finding jobs

and every other

major decision.

Affinity,

ability,

opportunity.

Affinity,

what human

needs do I

vibrate towards?

What interests

me?

What are my

passions?

Ability,

what am I

good at?

What do

people say

I'm effective

in?

Opportunity,

what doors

of service

are open,

what needs

to be done?

They're the

three of them,

affinity,

ability,

opportunity.

When I first

got involved

in ministry

there was

opportunities

and it

connected

with ability.

Steve,

that pew

needs to be

fixed.

We need

people sitting

on these

seats on

Sunday

and they

need to be

fixed.

I can do

that.

That's

connecting

with an

ability

that I

had.

Steve,

after several

months,

today,

pews are all

fixed,

grass is cut,

we're going to

go visit the

hospital.

Dunk,

dong.

That's not

something that I'm

have an ability

at.

Affinity,

I think so,

but there's an

opportunity there,

so let's have a

crack.

So what I

would suggest

is the

place to

start is

opportunity.

Find the

ministries in

the church

that need to

be done

and just

do them.

Just

serve.

Don't ask,

first of all,

whether it

fulfills you.

When,

after we've

had a

supper out

there and

there's

crumbs all

over the

floor,

don't ask,

will I be

fulfilled if I

vacuum the

floor tonight?

I'm not

naturally

vibrating across

here in this

direction.

Just do

it.

There's an

opportunity to

serve,

just do it.

And if you

need to know

how to work

a vacuum

cleaner,

I'll

willingly show

you how to

do that.

We've already

been told

tonight,

there's a

working bee

next Saturday.

Just be

here.

turn up,

be involved

in the

working bee.

For those

of you who

have certain

affinities and

abilities,

there's an

opportunity right

now to be the

treasurer of

St. Paul's.

We're looking

for a treasurer

right now.

Talk to

Andrew Smith

who's our

acting

treasurer

right now.

Okay,

having seen

all about

that,

there is a

distinction.

The last bit

about talents

is the

distinction

between gifts

and fruit.

Spiritual

gifts is

something we

do.

Spiritual

fruit is

something that

we are.

No one

but Jesus

has all

the spiritual

gifts.

But every

Christian is

to have all

of the

spiritual

fruit.

And the

list is there

in Galatians

5, 22

to 23.

The fruit of

the spirit

is love,

joy,

peace,

forbearance,

kindness,

goodness,

faithfulness,

gentleness,

and self

control.

Spiritual

gifts

can often

be honoured

ahead of

spiritual fruit

or even

be mistaken

for it.

There's a

reason for

that because

in our

Western culture

we value

production.

We value

getting things

done,

the task

resolved.

And so

when we

see people

doing tasks

and resolving

them well

with skill,

we just

assume that

is a higher

order for

us than

the character

of the person

doing it

in our

culture.

Spiritual

gifts can

often be

honoured ahead

of spiritual

fruit or even

be mistaken

for them.

And it

shocks us

to realise

in the

spiritual

realm that

it's possible

to touch

the lives

of individuals

even masses

of people

with a

spiritual

gift

while at

the same

time your

own spiritual

life is in

a downward

free fall.

That's

possible.

In fact,

Matthew 7,

in Matthew

7 there are

unregenerate

people exercising

gifts for the

benefits of

others.

you can

lead a

crusade

and see

people

converted

but at

the same

time be on

the way to

hell yourself.

That's

possible.

If God

can use a

donkey

to bring

about his

purposes,

he can use a

non-Christian

to bring about

the conversion

of Christians.

don't ever

use the

success that

you have in

ministry in

any way as

the gauge of

where you're

walking with

Christ in

that moment.

Don't ever

be confused.

Our church

needs people who

clearly demonstrate

both the fruits

and the gifts of

the Spirit,

which is why our

discipleship pathway,

growing up to be

like Jesus,

sits right beside

our ministry

pathway,

growing up in

my responsibility

and my

leadership.

So the

third and

final way we

can serve

God in

this world

is with

our

treasure.

And I'll

finish with

this one.

Next Sunday,

it's Commitment

Sunday.

It's the

Sunday each

year where we

ask our

regular members,

those who call

St. Paul's,

their church

family,

to make a

financial pledge

for the

ministry of

St. Paul's

in the

next year,

2019.

And also,

next Sunday,

we're looking

to raise

$55,000 for

the internal

and external

projects that

you have heard

about tonight

as well.

No less than

five times in

the New

Testament,

the language

of supporting

missionaries

or supporting

a church

financially is

described as

a ministry,

an act of

service.

And it's a

key ministry

that all of

God's people

are involved

in regardless

of gifting.

You don't

have a special

gift of

radical generosity

per se.

It's to use

our treasure

to serve God

in this world.

Like our

gifting,

it is something

that we will

use to

differing

degrees.

That is,

we don't

give according

to what

we don't

have.

We give

according to

what we

have,

not what

we don't

have.

The principle

that we use

here is

unequal giving

equals sacrifice.

Equal sacrifice

is that whether

it's $2 that

you're giving or

whether it's

$2,000 you're

giving,

it's a

gulp factor.

I need God

to help me

fulfill this.

Our act of

giving is an

act of worship

and that is

why the

Bible calls

us to give

from our

first fruits

and to live

on the rest

rather than

giving God

what's left

over.

Wow,

God,

I've just

eaten this

massive roast

dinner and

there's a

potato,

there you go,

you can have

that one.

If God

has saved

you in

Jesus,

gathered you

to himself,

his purpose

is to grow

you to be

like Jesus

in both

his character

and the

work he

came to

do,

which is

the will

of the

Father.

So pursue

God's

purpose for

your life,

get behind

the vision

of this

church and

serve it

and God

with your

time,

your talents

and your

treasures.

And within

a week,

within the

next week,

you've got

opportunities to

do all of

those things

just by the

pledging and

by coming to

a working

bay or being

our next

treasurer.